(Glenn) This morning we shipped our fourth package back home. I have no idea how we keep accumulating so much stuff (maybe Cathy has an idea??). We had a beautiful ride down Hwy 50 from Salida, CO over the Monarch Pass through the mountains. The spattered colors of gold, red, and orange mixed with the evergreen trees were great. Today we spent most of our time in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It is one of the newest national parks located in western Colorado as it was established in 1999. It had some sheer cliffs over 2300 feet making them the largest in Colorado. Just imagine a "mini Grand Canyon". We could hear the roaring river Rapids in the canyon floor below us. It is a beautiful park with very few tourists but about three hours was enough for us. We traveled all of the paved roads and went out on trails to a few observation points. Tonight we are sleeping in Montrose, CO near the park and plan to ride south tomorrow.
(Cathy) These canyons were different, the canyon walls were really dark. God has given us such good weather for our travels. Thank you, thank you! As Mama would say.
We had cereal this morning for breakfast and somewhere along the way we had a boiled egg and cheese nips. About 4:00 pm Glenn found me a really nice restaurant for dinner. Great ambiance, just a little dark with candle lighting on the table. Really nice place but casual dress was ok. He told me not to get used to this.
Jim G. has always been our riding buddy. Years ago we were stopped at the visitors center at this Monarch Pass , Jim was feeling anxious. He is out on the pavement throwing everything out of his luggage (looked like a crazy man), looking for his medicine he thought he had lost. Glenn and I laughed as we passed there today thinking about that past trip.